The world is changing in dramatic ways
Let's Start a Revolution in Public Education 
Tom Watkins Michigan's Superintendent of Public Instruction

As I begin this journey as Michigan's Superintendent of Public Instruction, I ponder Is the glass half full or half empty with regard to the quality of our public schools? Being an eternal optimist, I quickly conclude that the glass is half full. Yet, we have a long way to go to fill it to the top.

Put simply, our public schools are nowhere near as bad as public school critics want you to believe. Nor are they all as good as some of us who set education policy, earn our living within the school walls, and represent the public education establishment defend them to be. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. We have schools that are soaring and schools that are sinking. Our collective job will not be done until all of our schools and children are performing to world-class standards.

Three truths are clear:

Children are learning in our public schools every day in spite of the great hurdles many dedicated teachers face. As a community, we must do more to lift up our public schools and the throngs of dedicated, competent educators who dedicate their lives to our children. We must throw out the hammer often used to bash our public education system and replace it in our minds and in our words with a ladder that symbolizes lifting up our schools, our teachers and our children. The negative hyperbole that creates cynicism and skepticism among us must end.

The world is changing in dramatic ways and our system of public education must embrace those changes or it will be totally engulfed by them. Public education cannot become a captive of its own past successes. In Michigan, we have moved from a society where thinking has replaced lifting for a living. The battle to revolutionize public education must be fought from within or those from the outside will chip away and erode the credibility of our schools. Last year, Michigan dodged the misdirected voucher bullet, however, supporters of public education should not mistake the message that many want substantive reform.

Public schools helped take our country to the dance of greatness. There is no guarantee that a fickle public looking for something better and dissatisfied with the pace of change will not eventually choose to dance with a different partner. The two-stepping critics lurking around public education include not only voucher champions but tuition tax credit proponents as well. Supporters of both are waiting for the chance to offer the magic elixir to fix what ails our public school system - Beware! Our collective future is sitting in our classrooms today. No, it is not just sitting within the relative comfort of our suburban schools. Our future lies just as much in the classrooms of Detroit, Pontiac and Benton Harbor. The viability of our society, the strength of our economy, the quality of our lives, the vibrancy of our democracy and our place in the world depend on the quality of all of our public schools.

It is time to put the "public" back into public education. Education is far too important to our collective futures to be the sole responsibility of professional educators. We must engage the skills, intelligence, imagination, energy and commitment of everyone in Michigan to make our public schools run over with quality for all. I am calling on all Michiganians business, labor, nonprofit agencies, faith-based groups, professional educators, legislators, the Governor (and gubernatorial candidates), senior citizens, parents, students, Republicans, Democrats and Independents to take up the challenge of strengthening and improving our public schools. We need to become the revolution, not the establishment.

I admit to all public school critics that there are problems in our midst. There are children who are not reading and computing at grade level. There are children who are not being taught appropriately so they might be successful. Both of these facts are as overwhelming as they are unacceptable. One need only to look at our prison system where the majority of inmates are illiterate to see the outcome of society failing our children. Yet, we also know that rhetoric has never educated a single child. Only competent, well-prepared and equipped teachers and parents can accomplish this task.

The State Board of Education and I, along with our colleagues at the local level, will be accountable for educating all students. No more excuses. By setting high academic standards for all children and engaging all who value our children we shall provide ladders that will help lift them up. It can be done. It must be done!

Simply put, there is nothing wrong with our public schools that cannot be fixed by what is right about our public schools. The real Statue of Liberty, the symbol of hope and opportunity in America, is not in the New York Harbor - it lies in our community's public schools. And the face on the statue is the symbolic face of our great educators making a difference in our world one child at a time.

Our schools need to improve and they will improve from the inside out - not the outside in. The improvements we are striving for will be measured by a standardized test, the MEAP test, - but not solely driven by the test mania that currently grips our state and nation. We will not allow the magic and miracle of teaching and learning to be driven by a single test. We will inspire, support, and encourage our teachers to make learning come alive for students and to challenge them to develop their potential. Our public schools and our teachers are filling our youth with knowledge every day. Yes, I believe the cup is half full. Together we will fill it to overflowing. Please join us in this quest.

Tom Watkins assumed the role of Michigan's Superintendent of Public Instruction on April 30, 2001. On May 30th, he introduced "Thirty Ideas in 30 Days," a call for collaboration and action to improve the quality of public education for all of Michigan's children. The document is available on the Michigan Department of Education website, http://web.archive.org/web/20011101104640/http://www.mde.state.mi.us/. The members of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent welcome your thoughts and comments.